Miuccia Prada and My Own MiuMiu Moment
Miuccia Prada showcased her last solo collection as the head designer and creative director of Prada, three decades after her first show. Raf Simons will be joining as the co-director. While this was announced last fall, it really didn’t hit home until I was, in my own home, watching “the Show that Never Happened” ie. the Prada virtual collection exhibition. They worked with five different directors to create five haunting, and almost sensory jarring visualizations of the collection. I loved the final runway with the music hitting a crescendo and Miuccia making the tiniest of bows, barely coming into frame.
It has been so inspiring to see a woman fashion powerhouse. Long have I admired Miuccia’s creativity, business acumen, and grace. Even her final solo moment was all about the brand and moving it into the future. I have always loved Prada’s classic lines and then the juxtaposition when they release something over the top and embellished to the nines. I have always appreciated that it is either classic and clean or statement heaven. Raf Simons brings a life and a flourish to classic brands like Jil Sander and Calvin Klein. I am interested to see what his subtle touches and popular name will bring to Prada. It will be interesting to see how Miuccia’s work continues and if it is symbiotically grown by this new partnership. I’m hopeful and look forward to seeing what the two can accomplish together… but part of my heart will always feel a little wistful for seeing a solo woman at the helm.
As an homage of sorts, I’d like to take a moment to honor Miuccia with an homage to her namesake brand. In this post, I’d like to showcase my favorite MiuMiu piece. It is a white vinyl mini dress, and it sat in my closet for goodness knows how long! I never had the right look for it, and it’s a little short for a regular outing. It has always given me very Twiggy vibes, but I wanted to make it pop with a little bit more of a modern moment. Truthfully, she is a little short, and that made me really self conscious. I was afraid of how my body would look. I was afraid that it was too “young” for me. That I was too heavyset and too old to wear something like this. I don’t know what had me get it out of the closet, but I decided that it was finally time for this number to get a spotlight. Have you ever had an item that just sat in the closet forever? And while I know you’re supposed to let things go, I couldn’t part with this delight. So she just sat and waited. I considered framing her, but she was just too cute to simply view behind glass. I really struggled with how to style this, so like many other fashion moments by Mary, I just shelved her temporarily and knew that eventually inspiration would come to me.
I had booked a studio shoot with my regular photographer, Lydia Hudgens. This was my first studio shoot, and I had packed two fabulous tulle numbers. I’m not sure what made me slip this dress out of the closet- we had just moved into my new apartment, and it happened to be hanging up in plain sight. Hurriedly, I grabbed a hat and some jewelry, and brought it along just in case. (I always like to bring a couple of backup outfits when I am shooting blog content. The glam life of a NYC fashion blogger). When I arrived at the studio, I decided that I truly loved what I had thrown together. Pairing my MiuMiu dress with my favorite towering MiuMiu heels, I thought adding a vintage hat and some extensive Loren Hope sparkle would give it a fun twist. While warning the crew that I might flash them because I was still feeling extremely self conscious, I was able to easy myself into seeing that the dress was a good length for me and while a little short, it certainly wasn’t obscene by any stretch.
Sidenote: We have to stop stigmatizing women for wearing “short” dresses. As a 5’ tall girl, I am always terrified that someone is going to tell me that if I wear shorts or a skirt/dress (which is my entire wardrobe), that it is TOO short. Or Inappropriate. Unless my butt is actually visible, let’s lose this line of judgement. Let’s empower women to show their thighs and to not make us constantly feel self conscious over our bodies. End soap box.
I really love how Lydia shot this. She used some Vaseline on the lens, and Tayler Smith worked with the lighting to give it this very ethereal feel. I had a lot of fun shooting this, and I am so glad that I finally found an occasion to wear this cutie number… and I think it’s a very important fashion lesson that you shouldn’t be afraid to wear something you love. Short skirt. High Heels. Own it. Thanks MiuMiu. for this fun fashion moment and for helping me get over my own insecurities.
Mary’s Style Tips: What I find so interesting about pieces that you shelve for a long time is that once you finally put it into use, you’re far more likely to add it to a rotation than to shelve it again. We’re in the midst of a pandemic, but I’ve already considered half a dozen different ways to wear this for every day. Don’t be surprised when you see me walking down the street in this Twiggy moment.
Xoxo, Mary
Photography by: Lydia Hudgens // Lighting by: Tayler Smith